Acadia National Park News:
**Note - Many of the Acadia NP stories are not entirely about Acadia (given that the First Family are there), but Acadia definitely is a backdrop. Having said that, I thought that the highlight on Acadia is a good thing, so I published some pieces that would not typically make it as 'news.'**

An active first family is on the move in Maine (Note: What an advertisement for Mr. Desert Is. Ice Cream!.
President Obama and his family aren't just getting outside the Beltway on their brief vacation here -- they're getting outside, period.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/17/AR2010071702806.html

Obama Wraps Up Relaxing Vacation Amid GOP Criticisms
President Barack Obama and his family managed to make it through a couple of days of family vacation time without a crisis forcing a change in plans.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/...gop-criticisms/

Obamas’ Downeast getaway
President Obama brought his family Downeast yesterday for a biking and hiking getaway made sweeter by good news from Congress and the Gulf.
President Obama brought his family Downeast yesterday for a biking and hiking getaway made sweeter by good news from Congress and the Gulf.

Shifting Politics in Presidents’ Vacations
It has been 100 years, the local newspaper reports, since a sitting president chose this picturesque seaside village as his vacation spot. When William Howard Taft arrived in July 1910, he sprained his ankle playing golf, the captain of his yacht got “a terrible sunburn” and the townsfolk made such a ruckus about who would entertain him that Mr. Taft decided to give a speech from the bandstand on the village green.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/17/us/politics/17memo.html?src=me

Acadia National Park Seeking to Acquire Private Land within Park Boundaries
Before they even checked into their hotel this afternoon, President Obama and his family went for a bike ride on the carriage roads in Acadia National Park.
http://www.mpbn.net/Home/tabid/36/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3478/ItemId/12939/Default.aspx
**********


Big Bend National Park News:
Big Bend National Park
Alternately known as a geologist’s paradise and a geologist’s nightmare, Big Bend National Park in southwestern Texas offers a multitude of rock formations. Sparse vegetation makes finding and observing the rocks easy, but they document a complicated geologic history extending back 500 million years.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=44670&src=imgrss
**********


Katmai National Park News:
Bears draw visitors to Katmai National Park
Each year thousands of people from all over the world venture to Katmai National Park and Preserve, a wildlife sanctuary in Alaska's own back yard.
http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=12823748
***********


Misc. National Park News:
Parks Canada admission free
Parks Canada was waiving visitor entry fees Saturday as it marked the 125th anniversary of the founding of the country's first national park in Banff, Alta.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2010/07/17/national-parks.html#ixzz0u3DupK2o
**********


Rocky Mountain National Park News:
Rhode Island man falls 300 feet to death at Rocky Mountain National Park
Jeffrey Rosinski of Middletown, RI died after falling approximately 300 feet in the Keyhole Route area of the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.
http://www.examiner.com/x-39124-Providen...n-National-Park
***********


Yellowstone (and Grand Teton) National Park News:
Iowa man dies after falling into Yellowstone River
A 65-year-old Iowa man is dead after being swept down a river while fishing in Yellowstone National Park.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-wy-yellowstoneangler,0,5514561.story
***********


Yosemite National Park News:
Yosemite offers more sites for campers
Yosemite National Park is offering more sites for campers, including a campground that's been closed for 13 years.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15539791?nclick_check=1
**********